


Take Everything

by BuzzCat



Category: Pirates of the Caribbean (Movies), Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (2007)
Genre: F/M, Pregnancy, in the middle of AWE
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-05
Updated: 2016-04-04
Packaged: 2018-04-07 18:32:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,595
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4273626
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BuzzCat/pseuds/BuzzCat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Elizabeth decides if she wants to give a gift and take freedom, or give freedom and leave him ignorant.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I looked around but I couldn't find a hard-and-fast timeline for the PotC movies, so forgive me if the timeline is a little fudged on this one.

Elizabeth stood at the helm of the _Empress_ , looking out over the seas. They were slowly reaching Shipwreck Cove and as she stood there, Elizabeth found herself contemplating a dilemma, the kind she had hoped to never have and was quite disappointed in herself for having. Reaching Shipwreck Cove would force her to arrive at a decision that she wasn’t sure she was prepared to make. Shipwreck Cove meant Captain Jack Sparrow. Captain Jack Sparrow meant…well, she still wasn’t quite sure what it meant as a hand fell to her abdomen.

She’d missed her cycle. It was a simple statement, one that, if she had continued with her life and married Norrington, could have brought her untold joy. Of course, she had not married Norrington and decided to remain safe in Port Royal. She was the captain of a pirate ship, sailing toward one man that she loved while the other was sailing far away. And the man she was sailing to was the man who had put the babe in her belly, a man she didn’t understand and a babe she didn’t know she could care for. She and Jack had shared a brief moment of companionship when they had been looking for Will, before Jack had died. If she knew then that it would result in the creature growing inside, she never would have. She knew she wasn’t ready to settle in as a mother, knew that now she’d had a taste of the sea and the freedom with it, she would never be able to truly say that she was ready to be land-bound. But it didn’t matter if she was ready. She was sailing toward the man nonetheless and the babe was going to come sooner rather than later, whether the average observer could tell or not.

When they put in at Shipwreck Cove, Elizabeth wasn’t able to stop her mouth from dropping open. The stronghold was a sight to see, something she could have never imagined in all her years. She followed the sound of quarreling voices to the room filled with pirates. Before she even said anything, she saw Jack look up. She caught his eye and in that moment, she knew her decision. She would not tell him. She couldn’t. Not because he was a dishonorable man, but because she knew him to be a good man.

A good man who would be torn by his love of the sea and of piracy and the feeling of duty to his child. And Elizabeth knew that she could never bring herself to be the one to take away his freedom, not after he had fought so hard to get it back. She refused to watch that glimmer of mischief leave his eyes and watch as the lightness of freedom left him. She staked her sword in the globe and took her place a pirate captain, prepared to take everything she could and give nothing back.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What do you know, Hell froze over and I wrote another two thousand words for this story. Anyway, Elizabeth runs into Jack again and this time her condition isn't so easily hidden.

Elizabeth looked off over the railing, watching the setting sun on the horizon. Each time she watched for the green flash, if only to remind herself that Will was out there somewhere. Of course, as she stepped back from the railing and felt her child moving inside, perhaps it was better he was out there rather than right here, beside her. It meant that he wouldn’t be able to question why she looked so far along for three months, the answer being she was far more than three months pregnant. In truth, Elizabeth knew her child would come soon. She’d felt it shifting and it was only a matter of days, even if her ship had no midwife to confirm her suspicions. The sun set without a flash and Elizabeth sighed, turning back to look over her ship. Her crew was taking remarkably well to a female captain, though the fact that she was a pregnant pirate King and thus slightly more temperamental might have had something to do with that. They’d been doing honest work recently, which made everyone a little restless but it still paid well enough that she didn’t fear mutiny. Truly, Elizabeth wasn’t eager to engage in combat until her child was outside of her body. Going into labor in the middle of a fight would hardly add to her fearsome reputation and would be dangerous for all involved.

“Captain!” came the shout from the deck and Elizabeth turned to see her first mate running up the stairs, “There’s a ship sighted far off the starboard side.” he said. Elizabeth grabbed her spyglass and pointed it out and saw the ship. The baby pushed hard against her insides and Elizabeth felt herself pale. _The Black Pearl_ was coming up on them.

“Let her pull up alongside.” Elizabeth said softly. She’d heard it had sunk along with its captain, felled by Blackbeard. She wept that night. She loved two men and both had been claimed by the sea in one way or another. But if the _Pearl_ still sailed…

 

It felt like mere moments later that the _Pearl_ was beside her and Elizabeth could make out the distinctive silhouette of Captain Jack Sparrow. She was careful as she moved along, making sure that she kept her belly out of view. If he didn’t actually come over or ask her to board, she might still scrape out of this.

“Good evening, Captain Turner.” he shouted. Elizabeth smiled and hoped he couldn’t see the tears in her eyes. She’d thought she’d never hear him again. She shouted back,

“Good evening, Captain Sparrow!”

“In what world is that man ‘captain’?” asked a familiar rough voice and Elizabeth saw the feathered hat on deck as well. She couldn’t stop a laugh bubbling up as she shouted back,

“Good evening, Barbossa!”

“Captain Barbossa, to you, Mrs. Turner!”

“Oi! You’re captain of nothing you feathered runt!” said Jack to Barbossa. They bickered a moment and Elizabeth rolled her eyes. Such children. There was a loud thud and Elizabeth turned to see that her crew had lowered a board between the boats. Before she could protest, Jack and Barbossa were already walking across. Elizabeth took a deep breath and squared her shoulders. It appeared that fate would not be kind today.

Barbossa was the first across and when he caught sight of her, his eyes visibly widened,

“Well, that is an interesting story there,” he said. Elizabeth couldn’t find it in herself to disagree. The captain of the _Flying Dutchman_ ’s wife, who was the Pirate King, was pregnant with the child of Captain Jack Sparrow. She knew that in her former life of parties and socials, it would have been a riveting tale. Jack stepped onto the deck,

“I love stories, I—“ He stopped midsentence at the sight of Elizabeth. She felt her baby kicking her hard again, no doubt due to her pounding heart. Jack swallowed and couldn’t take his eyes off her rounded middle, “Lizzie, I never thought you’d be one to take your fiancée before he was your husband.”

“I didn’t take him before he was my husband,” she said. Barbossa looked between the two of them, putting the pieces together. He threw his head back and let out a full-throated laugh,

“I never thought you’d have it in you, Jack.”

“Well I clearly don’t have it in me, Elizabeth does,” he said. He stepped forward until he was mere inches from her belly, which was a good foot from her face. He studied her expression,

“You knew. At Pirate’s Cove, while you were fighting Davy Jones, you knew.”

She nodded. He seemed to process through events,

“When you married the whelp, you knew.”

She nodded again. Jack seemed to withdraw for a second before his walls came back up,

“Well, since you won’t be seeing him for the next nine and a half years, it shouldn’t be too hard to lie about it,” he said, twirling around and walking back to stand beside Barbossa. Elizabeth couldn’t make eye contact, grimacing as the child kicked her especially hard. Jack, who was resolutely looking at anything but her, failed to see it but Barbossa saw it. Before his pirating days, back when his highest ambition had been to be a good husband and maybe one day sail on a merchant vessel, Barbossa had had sisters. He’d seen them pregnant and knew that when they were Elizabeth’s size, they were often forbidden from walking too far and if it had been a difficult pregnancy, forbidden from leaving their bed. He stepped forward,

“Best ye go lie down, Mrs. Turner.” he said.

“Captain,” said Elizabeth and Jack at the same time. Their eyes met for a second and then they looked away. Elizabeth continued,

“Captain Turner.” she said. Barbossa smiled mockingly,

“Of course, _Captain_ Turner,” he said, sweeping a low bow. Elizabeth imitated the bow slightly in response, wincing harder as the baby hit her hard. She felt something on her leg and her eyes flew open. Her water had broken and suddenly this conversation was on a very tight schedule. She slowly straightened her spine and exhaled deeply,

“Well, gentlemen, if this concludes your visit, I must ask you to leave my vessel, as we are on a tight schedule.”

“What, you’ll miss an appointment with the navy?” asked Jack, snorting. Elizabeth fixed him with a coolly pointed look,

“Actually, my employer is waiting for his shipment of tobacco and I promised I’d be on time.” she replied. Barbossa looked surprised, then sneered,

“You’ve thrown in with the East India Trading Company after all?”

“Not quite, but it’s also none of your business.” she snapped. Now that she knew she was in labor, Jack had to leave. She knew that if he was here, if he saw the child and still looked at Elizabeth with the same betrayed contempt as before, it would break her. Thankfully, her men stepped forward and had started moving the other pirates off. Jack made to pull his sword and fight but Barbossa pushed him ahead on the wooden platform, making sure he went first. Elizabeth felt another contraction start, the strongest one yet. She bent forward, gripping the railing hard, her face scrunching up and her nails digging into the wood. She put a hand to her belly and tried not to scream. She heard a commotion and looked up to find Jack running toward her. He reached her side but she waved him off,

“I’m fine. You just need to get off my ship.” she said through gritted teeth. Jack snorted and helped her stand up straight, dropping his hands from her as soon as possible. Barbossa came forward as well, muttering to himself. He rolled his eyes at Elizabeth,

“Did you truly pick now to go into labor?”

“It’s not as though I had a lot of choice in the matter.” she groused. Secretly, Barbossa was glad that it was now and not when they were gone. He’d looked around at Elizabeth’s crew and there wasn’t one he trusted as far as he could throw them. With her incapacitated with pain and later caring for a new child, he had no doubt that there’d either be mutiny or murder and he didn’t much care for either. He shouted across to the _Black Pearl_ ,

“Send over Master Ragetti!” He went back to Elizabeth and Jack. Her labor was going fast. Sweat was beading on her forehead. Jack was right beside her, letting her squeeze his hand and otherwise looking bewildered at the situation. Barbossa looked at the crew on deck, who all seemed a bit confused. He rolled his eyes and said to Jack,

“Help me get her to her quarters. Don’t want a babe born in front of those mongrels.” Ragetti joined the group just then. His eyes bulged at the sight of Elizabeth and he laughed,

“Master Turner will certainly have a surprise when he sees you!” he said. Barbossa smacked Ragetti alongside the head and said,

“She’s in labor. Do something.”

“Right.” And just like that, Ragetti stood straight and took charge. He turned to Jack,

“Captain, go boil some water and find some clean rags. Meet us in Captain Turner’s cabin.”

“And why would I listen to a nasty decaying pufferfish like yourself?” Jack snarled. He wasn’t exactly happy with Elizabeth, but he certainly wasn’t about to leave her in the dubious hands of Ragetti. Barbossa chimed in,

“Ragetti was a doctor before he signed on, you imbecile. Go!” Jack glared at him and after giving Elizabeth a glance, strode with a purpose to search the ship for anything that remotely resembled “clean”.

 

It was hours later, the sun already rising, when at last Elizabeth brought her daughter into the world. The cord was cut and the baby cleaned, handed to Elizabeth in what she suspected was torn shirt of hers. Her daughter was gorgeous tiny pink hands and tinier fingers that still had a grip around Elizabeth’s heart. Barbossa stood off to the side and said with a smile,

“Ya have a name, missy?”

“Marina,” Elizabeth said softly, not looking away from her daughter, “Her name is Marina Joan.”

“Names usually have three parts to them,” said Jack quietly. He had been beside Elizabeth throughout her labor, getting blankets and water when needed and holding her hand through contractions. It was hardly what she’d been raised to expect of the father, but then again, it was the dichotomy of guidelines and rules. Jack was staring at their daughter, eyes wide and taking her in. Marina started crying and Elizabeth looked at the men,

“She needs to be fed.” Barbossa turned his back, but Jack made no such move. Elizabeth glared at him and he gave her his false smile, the one she’d come to hate when she realized he only used it as a mask. With a huff, she carefully moved a portion of her shirt to the side, exposing a breast and carefully getting Marina to latch on. Jack watched the process in fascination. Finally, with Marina feeding, Elizabeth leaned back on the mound of pillows behind her and sighed. Jack swallowed and looked at her, all trace of banter gone from his face,

“Where do we go from here, your majesty?”

“Ask me again later,” Elizabeth said, fighting sleep. Seconds later, she lost that battle and relaxed further into the bed, breathing deeply. Jack watched her, gently removing an equally sleepy Marina from her breast and pulling the newborn close to him. He looked down at her, marveling at the baby’s sleeping face. She was his. On some level, she was his.

“All the treasure we accumulate, all the respect and fear we spread across the seas, and the one thing we can’t get is family,” Barbossa said, slowly coming around the end of the bed to get a better look at Marina. Jack pulled the newborn just a smidgen closer. But Barbossa made no move to take the baby from him, instead looking down at her and smiling. He fixed Jack with a threatening gaze, “Family is important. Do wrong by them and you’ll regret it for the rest of your life.”

“And what would you know about family?” Jack asked quietly, mindful of the sleeping girls. Barbossa glared at him,

“Enough. Take care of them.” He walked out, leaving the new family together. Jack looked down at Marina and back at Elizabeth, who was lightly snoring. He gulped and tried to hold Marina just a little more securely. They were his family. He truly had ventured into uncharted waters.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have decided that Barbossa is basically the fun uncle and actually cares like 100x more than shown in the movie. Pry that headcanon from my cold dead hands. If you want to talk more about characterization, leave a note in the comments.


End file.
